Sunshine and Rainbows
by Epona3
Summary: Immediately following the Season Three Finale: will it all be sunshine and rainbows? An exploration of Annie and Auggie's relationship, and the mysterious file. Now complete!
1. Sunrise

**_I have absolutely loved everybody's stories that take place just after the Season Three finale. And even though I love them, I keep thinking "No! It happens like this!" So for the sake of my sanity, I have had to write my own version! But I still want to read all of your versions. _**

**_This may or may not be the beginning of something more. _**

* * *

"I'm glad we're having this talk." Annie said.

Auggie smiled and met her lips again, kissing more deeply. They turned in their embrace and Annie took a step. Her knees bent as she backed into her bed, but Auggie's arms held her up until they both pulled apart again. She sat on the bed, and Auggie sat next to her, holding her hand.

For a moment there was nothing but silence. Auggie wanted to take off his jacket and tie - the clothes were suddenly suffocating and overly restrictive. But he didn't want Annie to get the wrong idea. He took a deep breath.

"I thought I lost you," Auggie finally said.

"Which time?" Annie replied as she stared at him.

Auggie let out one breath of a laugh. "Amsterdam, most recently."

"I know the feeling." Annie replied as she moved her hand to the back of his head.

Auggie leaned into her touch, but didn't speak. Annie could see the thoughts brewing. "What are you thinking so hard about?" she asked.

He looked toward her. "Honestly?"

Annie moved her thumb slowly behind his ear. "Yeah," she replied, barely audible.

"I... was wondering if it would seem to presumptuous if I took off my jacket and tie. You must have the heat on eighty degrees in here!"

Annie laughed at his deflection and started pulling off his jacket. "What kind of hostess am I? Auggie, please, let me take your jacket." Her words had a teasing tone, but her closeness while she pulled the jacket off distracted Auggie from any further thoughts. As she stepped away to set the folded jacket on a chair, Auggie removed his tie.

"Auggie," Annie started. "Would you please stay here for tonight?" Annie asked as she straddled his legs and sat, facing him, in his lap.

"Well, if it wouldn't be too much of an inconvenience." Auggie replied, keeping with the lightheartedly formal tone as he wrapped his arms around her.

"Not at all," she replied their lips joined.

When they pulled back for air, she started unbuttoning his shirt. He ran his fingers through her hair and down her arms until he needed to let go for her to pull his arms through the fabric. While they were apart, Annie pulled off her necklace and pushed it into her pocket. Simon would not be between them tonight. She moved her hands to Auggie's chest, tracing his muscles while he pulled up the hem of her shirt. She let him remove her bra.

Everything felt like it was in slow motion. The two of them took in the view of the other. Annie watched Auggie's face while his fingers explored her skin. His fingers started at her hands, then moved up her arms, leaving a trail of goosebumps up to her shoulders. As his fingers moved to her neck, she wrapped her arms around his chest and moved her feet behind him. The expression on his face was unlike his other smiles, in fact, Annie wasn't sure if she would consider it a smile at all. It was as though he was concentrating on every detail.

His fingers moved from her neck to her collarbone. She reminded herself that there was no scar from where Eyal had stitched her up. He wouldn't be in the middle of this moment.

Auggie moved his fingers over her chest, and he gasped when he found the first scar. It hadn't healed well. She guided his other hand to the other wound, framing her left breast with his hands.

"I should have gotten that damn beer with you." Auggie said. He leaned his head forward, and Annie rested her forehead against his.

"You don't know if that would have changed anything." Annie replied.

"I definitely shouldn't have helped you out in the gym so early. These scars have barely healed."

"I'm ok." She moved forward for another kiss. Auggie ended his inspection and wrapped his arms around her as they laid back in the bed.

Auggie kicked off his shoes as Annie removed his belt. She pulled off his pants and threw them to the side before Auggie could protest. "Wait!"

Annie stopped. Everything had been going so well. She couldn't imagine why he was stopping.

"I need those."

"I... I thought we both had the same idea here." Annie replied.

"I wasn't planning to knock you up, Walker."

Annie laughed and rolled away.

"What's so funny?"

"Well, for starters, the fact that we are mostly naked in bed together, and you just referred to me all formal-like by my last name. But also," he heard a drawer open and close, "that you think you are the only one that doesn't want me pregnant. Protection is on the nightstand at your two o'clock _Mister Anderson." _

"Just looking out for you, Sugarplum."

Annie giggled. "Like always."

Auggie replied by moving his tongue on her body in a way that showed that he absolutely knew how to take care of her.

...

Completely relaxed, Annie laid with her head on Auggie's chest. His breathing was even and his eyes were closed. "You still awake?"

"Mmm hmm." Auggie replied. His only movement was his hand on Annie's back.

Annie looked around. Auggie had hardly ever been in the guest house before and his cane was lying in the middle of the room. She rolled over, leaving him suddenly feeling very alone.

"Where ya going?" he asked.

"Bathroom," she replied.

"May I join you?" he asked with a playful tone as he sat up and swung his legs over the edge of the bed.

"I'm not usually one for bathroom sharing, but for you..." She touched the back of his arm. He followed her through a maze of furniture. "I even have a new toothbrush, if you want it."

When they headed back to her bed, Annie stopped to pick up his cane.

"I knew that was there," Auggie said as she bent over.

Annie placed the still fully-assembled cane in his open hand. "In case you forget by morning."

Auggie grinned and unassembled the cane as he walked to the bed. "Thank you. I may need your help finding all my clothes, though."

"That," Annie said settling on the bed and moving close to him, "we can worry about in the morning."

Auggie laughed, pulled her to his chest, and gave her a kiss on the forehead. With Annie wrapped in Auggie's arms, they fell asleep quickly.

...

Annie woke up before her alarm. Her arm was still draped over Auggie. She stared at him a moment, then quietly got out of bed. After starting a pot of coffee she gathered his clothes and sat them on the empty side of the bed before getting in the shower.

When she got out, Auggie was sitting in the chair by the lamp wearing only his boxers, with a cup of coffee in hand. "I see you found everything you needed?" Annie asked.

"This relationship just might work." Auggie said, with a grin, as he took a sip of coffee. "You even keep the sugar right next to the coffee pot. But I did accidentally knock this folder off the table." Auggie pointed at the folder Henry gave Annie the night before, sitting by the lamp.

"I would have taken more care if I knew you were coming over," Annie replied.

"No need for that," Auggie replied. He got up and walked toward her. "I wouldn't ever want to put you out of your way."

Annie gave him a quick kiss. "So, are we doing the walk of shame this morning, or would you like a ride home?"

"Since you have such an early start, how about you take me home? Why were you awake so early, by the way?"

"I don't know." Annie replied. "I think I slept better last night, in your arms, than I have for months."

Auggie smiled and drank more coffee.

While Annie got ready for work, Auggie pulled on his pants and shirt from the night before. "So," he talked while she tried to find the right blouse. "Want to change that date that we planned for tomorrow to tonight?"

"So that _was_ a date?" Annie teased.

"I was even going to pay. But I know that you are a modern, self-made woman, so perhaps you would prefer..."

"Oh no - I'm not at all opposed to letting you pay."

"Fine. Set the feminist movement back with your cheap ways."

"I think that I've made rather significant efforts to support the feminist movement, if they weren't all classified."

"Do you think knocking a guy out with your shoe would set the movement forward, or back?" Auggie teased.

"How do you know about that?" Annie asked.

"You still think you can keep secrets from me?" Auggie replied. "Besides, Eyal and I had some time together and I had him catch me up on what went down in Luxembourg."

"You know I don't have feelings for him, right?" Annie said, teasingly.

Auggie grinned. "Are you ready yet?"

"Almost. Five more minutes."

"You've put on your clothes, what more could you need to do?"

"Hair and makeup."

"Oh." Auggie said. He got up to get more coffee.

...

"Just drop me off and head on in to work. I didn't think to cancel the car service for the day." Auggie explained on the way to his apartment.

"Can't you call and cancel it now?"

"I could, but then I wouldn't continue to be their favorite client."

"Fine. We're at your place now." The car slowed in front of his building.

When they stopped, Auggie unfastened his seatbelt and turned toward Annie. "Thank you."

"I should be thanking you. I'm glad you came over."

"Not as much as I am." he replied before leaning forward for a kiss.

When Auggie pulled away he said "I think if you came up to my place, we would never make it to work."

Annie laughed. "I'll see you in an hour?"

"Try not to start any rumors before I get there."

Annie laughed and he got out of the car. She watched until he was in the building.

Auggie shut the door to his apartment and booted up his computer while he took a quick shower. Fifteen minutes before his driver would arrive, he connected his iPhone to the computer and uploaded the images he took of the mysterious folder while Annie was in the shower.

The text recognition software on his home PC wasn't as sophisticated as what he had at work. The mechanical voice didn't read the text nearly as fast as Auggie wanted, but by the time Auggie's driver arrived he knew that their new relationship wasn't going to be full of sunshine and rainbows.

"Oh Annie. What have you gotten yourself into now?" Auggie asked the empty room.


	2. Rainbows are actually Unicorn Farts

_**A/N: I am highly susceptible to peer pressure. All of the reviews and encouragement on this story caused it to eat my brain until I had to put more into words. So it is now, officially, a multi-chapter story of God-only-knows what length. I know I didn't respond to all of the reviews, but to everybody that did review, THANK YOU. It is truly appreciated. **_

_**And a special thanks to Pseudonymitous, who also has taken this story a little further. Go read her version, as well! I'm honored that what I wrote was so inspiring. **_

* * *

By the time Auggie got to work, he had such a mix of emotions in regards to Annie that he didn't know what to think. The result was that he and Annie did not both show up to work with morning-after permagrins. He was happy enough, but anxious to dive into his to-do list while he thought things through. He had slipped on his headphones and was booting up his computer when he could smell Annie.

The body responds to smells differently, and Auggie hadn't smelled Annie since early that morning, when he was blissfully content and believed that their immediate future had no agenda except falling more deeply in love. When Auggie smelled Annie, he forgot all about the mysterious folder and smiled.

"Morning Auggie," Annie greeted. Her tone was different. Maybe not different enough for anybody else to notice, but her voice was a little lower, a little more inviting.

"Good morning, Walker." He replied. In a much more quiet voice he added "I assume you have on clothes, therefore I can use that name?"

Annie laughed and sat something on his desk. "Coffee at your ten o'clock."

"Thank you." Auggie replied. "Dinner tonight at your seven o'clock?"

"That sounds lovely, as long as Joan doesn't have other plans."

"Do you think Joan has other plans?" Auggie slipped into his more serious tone.

"I can't tell. I guess you don't know anything?"

"As far as I know, you are home for the next 48-72 hours."

"After that?"

"I'm not even certain about _ before_ that. What if a Grecian fishing boat were abducted by pirates?"

Annie was quiet for a moment, then put her hand on Auggie's back and leaned to his ear. Very quietly she responded "You know I don't have feelings for him, right?" She rubbed her hand across his skin as she spoke.

"You are distracting me. I have work to do."

"Yes sir," Annie replied as she turned to walk back to her desk.

Auggie put his headphones on and started sifting through his in-box. He could compartmentalize well enough to let work distract him from all of the complications of his new relationship.

At 6:30 that evening, Auggie was pulled from his thoughts by an arm on his shoulder. He pulled off his headphones.

"Have you moved from your desk at all today?" Annie's voice asked.

He scowled as he felt the time. "I'm late."

"Yeah, luckily so am I. Do you need to keep working?"

"No. I just got caught up in some encrypted information. I haven't had that much uninterrupted time in months."

"Are we still on?" Annie asked.

"Absolutely," Auggie replied. "Give me five minutes to save everything and shut down."

Instead of leaving, Annie walked behind him and lightly massaged his neck.

Auggie dropped his head down and stopped moving. "I'm never going to ask you to stop that, but if you are hungry..."

Annie immediately stopped and Auggie continued shutting down his computer.

…

The restaurant was dark and quiet. Auggie had made a reservation for a specific table near the back, secluded from most of the other clientele without being too far removed from the ambiance.

"I assume they still have the blackened filet on the menu?" Auggie asked.

"Yes," Annie replied. "Is this your usual first-date location?"

"Only for the women I've already slept with." Auggie replied.

"Does that happen often?" Annie teased.

Auggie took a deep breath and reached across the table for her hand. "Annie, I promise you that what we have is different than anything I've ever done before."

Annie squeezed his hand in reply, looking at him instead of saying anything.

"I have, however, eaten here before, and everything is great. I recommend the steaks."

...

Annie tried not to stare as Auggie cut his steak. But as she had told him long ago, he was mesmerizing. Auggie tried not to do anything stupid, since he knew Annie was staring.

"Keep me around long enough, and you'll see all my tricks." He said.

"Oh really?"

Auggie grinned and speared a roasted potato with his fork. "When I think back on all the things that I did to impress women, it irritates me. If I only knew that it could be as easy as eating a steak blindfolded."

Annie laughed and had another sip of wine.

...

After sharing a desert, Auggie paid the bill but they continued to sit at the table.

"Annie, there's something I need to talk about."

"I've heard that one before." She noticed his change in mood, and tried to lighten things up. The night had gone too well for him to get serious now.

"I... I've never done this before." He started.

"Done what?" Annie asked.

"I know you think - I know everybody thinks that I've been around the office a bit, and that may be based in some truth. But I've never had a relationship with another agent."

"Oh?" Annie replied. "Well then we are in equally uncharted territory."

"Not exactly."

"Simon was an op, Auggie."

"You can't even say that without having to put on your serious spy voice."

"I did feel more for him, in the end." The crack in her voice made Auggie regret bringing up Simon. "But it's not like we went out to steak dinners where I was mesmerized just by being with him. Auggie - this thing that we have, whatever it is, it is as new to me as it is to you."

"I'm used to keeping secrets, Annie. We have to keep secrets. It's how we are trained."

"Auggie, of all the things to get in the way of whatever this may be, I don't see why you are worrying about **this** right now."

"Whatever this may be - I'd like it to be a relationship, Annie. I want to be with you, I want to call you my girlfriend, I want you to be mine."

Annie smiled and looked in his eyes. "I would like that."

"And I realize that I can't ask you for complete truthfulness all the time. I can't promise that to you, either."

"We can make it work. Is this about Joan?" Annie asked.

Auggie took a deep breath, closing his eyes and thinking of one thing he loved. He opened his eyes and directed them towards her, hoping to make perfect eye contact. "No, Annie. This is about that file I knocked over this morning."

* * *

_**If you aren't reviewing, I'll assume you are writing your own version, and I can't wait to read it! **_


	3. Dark Clouds Look Fluffy

Annie went silent. Auggie braced himself, preparing to follow her if she ran out of the restaurant. He heard her chair push back, and he started assembling his cane. "We can't talk about this here." Annie said as she offered him her arm.

Auggie silently complied and walked with her out of the restaurant.

When they were outside, Auggie opened up. "I want to start by saying that I was simply worried about you. I couldn't think of any good reason that you would have a file like that at your home - so I was curious."

"You could have said something," Annie replied.

"Sure. Hey, Annie - what was in that file I knocked over this morning?" Auggie asked, cheerfully.

Annie stopped walking and placed her hand on his chest. In a somewhat questioning voice she replied. "It was legal paperwork from Danielle."

"See? Here is our problem. I know that you are lying."

"Do you know the truth?"

Auggie sighed. "Not really."

"Auggie," she pleaded.

"Damnit, Annie." Auggie breathed heavily, his eyes darting around as he leaned on his cane. "That file stinks of Henry Wilcox!"

Annie went silent.

Auggie straightened up. "Why?" he asked quietly. "He has barely been out of prison for seventy two hours. Why do you have information from that scumbag?"

Annie stepped forward and put her hand on his shoulder. Auggie took a deep breath and focused his eyes on her. Then Annie snapped out of her stunned state. "Auggie," she began in a more demanding tone. "How do you know anything about what's in that file?"

"I told you, I could smell Wilcox all over it." He practically sneered when he said the name.

"Really, Auggie."

"Look, I was worried about you. I thought maybe you were still researching Khalid. Or that you had something from Eyal. Or that Danielle _had_ sent you legal paperwork of some sort. It goes back to what I was trying to say earlier, Annie. I'm a spy. We have both been trained to question everything. I found the file, I was curious about what was inside, so I scanned a couple of pages."

"For _my own good_, right?" she said with a mocking tone.

"You've been doing a lot of research off the books lately. You know I'm behind you one hundred percent. I wanted to know what you were getting me into."

"Auggie, I don't know what pages you scanned, but you are already in this."

"Well then what difference does it make?"

Annie punched him lightly in frustration. "It changes everything." She replied.

"Annie, I don't know what all is in the file, but Henry Wilcox has been trying to make Arthur look bad since the day he retired and Arthur took over."

"Why do you think that is?"

"What do you mean?" Auggie asked.

Annie let out a sigh and touched the back of Auggie's arm. They walked back toward her car. "Think about this from a different angle. We have always accepted that Henry is a bad guy, right?"

"Because he is," Auggie replied.

"Why?"

"Because he ran so many dark ops," Auggie replied. "Annie, those ops put agents in danger, for reasons that never saw the light of day."

"Right, but they were effective."

"He was in charge before 2001, so I could argue otherwise."

"You and I both know that wasn't an intelligence failure, but an inter-agency coordination failure. The intelligence was good."

"Fine," Auggie sighed. "You are not going to convince me that Henry is a good guy."

"Maybe not good, but let's assume that he actually has the country's best interests at heart."

Auggie rolled his eyes and took a deep breath. "OK."

"So then there were reasons that he has done everything that he has done, perhaps Jai understood those reasons, and perhaps there is some value into looking in to the information that Henry has to offer."

Auggie was silent for a moment. "Everything he has contributed so far has been intent on destroying Joan and Arthur, Annie."

"I don't believe this is any different."

"Joan and Arthur are the good guys, Annie."

"Sometimes good guys get things wrong, Auggie."

"But this isn't just about one mistake."

"No," Annie replied. "This is about a lot of things, but it doesn't look good for Joan and Arthur."

"Annie, I wouldn't be here - I wouldn't have ever met you - without Joan and Arthur."

"Sure, because Arthur _used_ me. He used me as bait."

"No, I meant that I wouldn't be working at the CIA at all." Auggie replied. "I'm here because Joan fought for me to be here."

They were standing next to Annie's car, and she cupped her hands on the sides of his face. "Auggie," she nearly cried as the words came out. "Joan wouldn't have had to fight for you, if Arthur hadn't authorized a faulty mission in Tikrit."

Auggie was silent. Annie moved her hands down his shoulders, along his arms, and took his hands in hers.

"Auggie, the information that Henry gave me, it has a lot of information about how we have been put at risk. I have to look into it, I have to assume that Henry Wilcox hasn't been working against Joan and Arthur based on spite for the past four years."

"Were you going to tell me?" Auggie asked.

"Not until I had to." Annie truthfully replied. "But I'm glad you know, now."

Auggie pulled her hands to his chest. "This isn't good."

"Is it ever?" Annie replied, moving closer to him.

Auggie laughed for a breath. "Not with you, Walker."

"Want to talk about something good?" she asked.

Auggie smiled, and before he could respond she met his lips.

* * *

**_A/N: Not a cliffhanger, and it could have been. I actually thought the story would end here, but then one of the characters took over and kept coming up with more plot. I hope that you are still interested enough to anxiously await the next chapter? _**


	4. The Highs and The Low Notes

Auggie and Annie rested their foreheads together after a brief kiss.

"Come to my place tonight?" Auggie asked.

"Sure," Annie replied. "Thank you for dinner, by the way," Annie said when they were in the car.

"You are very welcome," Auggie replied.

"Definitely one of the best first dates that I've been on."

Auggie grinned. "Me too, Walker."

At his apartment, Auggie placed his things in their usual places and walked to the kitchen. "Can I get you a beer or anything?" he asked.

"Just some water." Annie replied while looking around. "You've changed things here."

"Oh, yeah. I guess you haven't been around in a while." Auggie replied.

"Wouldn't have imagined that you were one to rearrange furniture all that much."

"I wouldn't." Auggie replied. Then he added "Parker."

"She rearranged your furniture?"

"No," he handed Annie a glass of water and walked to the couch. Annie followed. "When we got back from being so fabulously rescued by you, I thought she was going to be here a while. A long while. She never said anything, but I wanted to make sure it wasn't so much like she was living with a blind man. So I ordered the new TV. Didn't bother cancelling it when she ran out, so I went ahead and had the furniture arranged like this, which should, as I was told, be good for TV watching."

"Oh," Annie said.

"What I can verify is that the surround sound is spectacular." Auggie added with a grin. "The new end table is actually a subwoofer."

"I'm not entirely sure what a subwoofer is, but that sounds cool."

"Stay here, and I'll show you."

Auggie plugged an earbud into his iPhone and scrolled through some of his music selection. Then he adjusted some of the many controls on the stereo system under the television. He plugged his iPhone into the stereo, and music filled the room.

Auggie sat next to Annie on the couch. "So, you've heard Mingus before, right?"

"Of course."

"You hear the trumpet now. Where is that sound?" Auggie asked as he moved closer.

"Over to the right."

"And the sax?" He placed his arm behind her.

"It's all around us."

"And the low tones, the rhythm. Where is that?" His nose was practically on her neck.

Annie sat for a moment, listening. "It is like it's inside of me."

"That..." he kissed her neck, "Is..." he kissed her jaw, "The..." he kissed her lower lip, "Subwoofer."

Annie met his kiss without hesitation. After a moment they pulled apart. "The subwoofer you bought for Parker." She added.

"She never appreciated it." Auggie replied as his hands moved through her hair.

"Mmmm," Annie replied. "She doesn't know what she's missing."

Auggie didn't reply, only continued to move his hands until they were under her shirt.

* * *

_**A/N Just a little fluff to get you through the weekend, before things get serious again. **_

_**If you've read my other story "Clearing his Head," you may think I'm obsessed with subwoofers. When they provide fluff like this, they are incredibly useful. **_


	5. Unicorn Horns Contain Poison

The second night together was slower and more relaxed than the first. They spent an hour on the couch, touching and kissing each other while feeling the rhythm of the music, and then moved to Auggie's bed where they continued.

Waking up in each others' arms was beginning to be Annie's favorite part of the relationship. His arm was on her chest, his thumb resting on her scar. In their explorations, his fingers always migrated to her scars.

"You're awake," his voice stated.

"Are you?" she asked.

"Mmmaybe," he mumbled.

"After work today, do you want to come to my place and get read in on Henry's files?"

"Never say that name while in my bed again, please."

"Do you want to come to my place and figure out a mystery?" She rephrased.

"Maybe," he replied. "Can you bring things here, instead?"

"I guess so, why?"

"The files are pretty useless to me, as they are. I have all my toys here."

"Oh, yeah, sure."

"Just warning you, I'm a little less efficient at home than at the office."

"You seem efficient enough, so far."

Auggie grinned. "In some ways, I'm far more efficient at home. Speaking of which, I'm going to go make us some coffee."

Annie let out a little whine when he got out of the bed. "If I'm going to be spending so much time here, I may need to know your systems."

"What systems?" Auggie asked as he scooped coffee into the fresh filter.

"I don't know - don't you have your liquor cabinet organized a certain way?"

"Oh, well, not really. I mean, it's not that different..." he heard Annie walk into the kitchen. "I don't keep that much variety of liquor around, but the only way that makes sense, sighted or not, is to have tall bottles in the back, short ones in front, and the ones you use the most in easy reach. Beyond that, liquor bottles are kind of all different, or a quick sniff will let me know what's inside."

"Easy enough," Annie replied.

"Soup cans, on the other hand, are harder." Auggie turned on the coffee pot, but started to look very concerned.

"What is it?" Annie asked.

"I was a pretty organized person, even before the accident. Please tell me I'm not going to have to start from scratch training you on yet another skill."

"Hey! Danielle started some organizational training."

Auggie grinned. "Just tell me this," he motioned to the rest of the living area, "Am I going to trip on your shoes between here and the bathroom?"

Annie double checked that she had left her shoes tucked under the coffee table the night before. "Absolutely not!" she replied.

"Then you already have most of 'my system' down pat."

In reality, Auggie was shocked at how well Annie fit into his home life. He showered after her, and didn't notice anything out of place in the bathroom at all. The only difference was her lingering smell, which was driving him mad. Perhaps he should have showered _with_ her.

They were having a surprisingly easy time acting normal at work, too. Annie still gave Auggie ridiculously large smiles, Auggie still took an unusually large interest in Annie's workload, and they each were able to get their jobs done, as needed. Nobody seemed to notice Auggie's new habit of reaching to be sure that Annie was clothed after he referred to her as "Walker."

Auggie worked through a particularly interesting encryption mid-afternoon, and sent it to Joan. Unfortunately, the information was in three different languages, so Annie was stuck in the office trying to get it translated. This wasn't the sort of thing that could wait until Monday.

"I'll just hang out here while she gets that translated." Auggie told Joan.

"Auggie, it's a Friday night. There's no need for you to stay."

"You don't know that - what if you need me to do more digging?"

"Auggie, you are always more than thorough. If we need you, I'll call you back in."

"OK. I'm going to go to the gym before I head home, so if anything comes up..."

"We are fine. Go."

Auggie was never so sad to go home on a Friday afternoon. He stopped by Annie's desk on the way out. "Sorry about this."

"Not a big deal, I should be through everything in a couple of hours. I'll give you a call?"

"Sounds good."

...

Once he was home, Auggie decided to use the alone time to take care of some personal details. He booted up his computer and changed clothes. He was sitting down to dig into his personal emails when he heard something in the room. Everything within his being told him he was in danger.

"You have got to be the worst spy, ever." The voice announced.

"I am going to install retina scanners instead of a new deadbolt."

"I figured you would weasel your way into my mission, Anderson. I just didn't think you would do it so efficiently."

"I have no idea what you are talking about."

"Of course not." Henry sneered. "But as much time as you have spent with your new lady, I'm sure she's told you something."

"Why are you here?"

"I wanted to have a little chat."

"Make an appointment next time."

"That's not my style," Henry replied. "It's not yours, either. I figured you would want to know that you inspired all of this with your talk of honor that we had, back at my old residence."

Auggie rolled his eyes at Henry's mention of honor.

"You don't trust me." Henry stated.

"I have a generally low opinion of convicted traitors." Auggie replied.

"Consider our history, Auggie."

"August."

"August, every time I've given you information, it's been reliable."

Auggie didn't reply. Henry had given him a key detail to solving Jai's murder. It also led to Annie being shot.

"I just wanted to stop by and encourage you to have an open mind. I wouldn't pick you to investigate Joan and Arthur. I know you and Joan have a long history." Henry said the last line as if the history was as personal as it was professional. "But you are involved in this now, and you have to trust that this is a worthwhile cause. There is a lot of dirt out there, and it needs to be cleaned up."

"Why should I trust you?"

"Because I know more than you and your lady friend. You don't have to like me, August. Just trust me." When Auggie didn't respond, he continued. "I'm sure you need to get ready for her to come over tonight. Good catch there, by the way. Are you as sincere with her as you were with Liza?"

Auggie wondered which side of the coffee table the man was standing on, so he would have the best chance at finding him to snap his neck.

"Oh, I see that struck a nerve. I'll let myself out."


	6. Spider Armies

_**A/N: I'm not thrilled with how this chapter turned out, so I've been sitting on it, making constant revisions, for a few days. **_

_**If you'd like to help me through writer's blocks, I am lovetoloveher80 on tumblr. I think. The site is down right now so I can't double-check that... **_

* * *

Auggie locked the deadbolt behind Henry and collapsed onto the floor. He couldn't stop shaking. It wasn't the words Henry had said, it was the sheer vulnerability that Auggie felt, knowing that the man was able to be in his home, watching him, without him knowing. Auggie thought he was better than that, but thanks to Papa Wilcox, he was reminded that he was truly incapable of the most basic skills of self preservation.

His fear quickly turned to anger, and he stood up and shouted at the room. "Would anybody else like to make their presence known?!"

Trying to shake off the intrusion, he started inspecting his apartment as best he could. He started with the couches in case Henry left something behind - like the team of large spiders that loyally follow him around in Auggie's mental picture.

...

Annie noticed that something was bothering Auggie as soon as he met her at the door. She sat the food on the island and pulled him in for a kiss. She could smell cleaning supplies.

"Auggie, what's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing," he responded.

"You didn't clean the place up, just for me, did you?"

He waved off her concern. "I just had a blind moment."

"Oh," Annie replied. She looked around for signs of anything that might have broken "Do you need me to help with anything?"

"Do I smell General Tsaos Chicken?" Auggie asked.

"Yes, you do."

Auggie gave a genuine smile. "You are amazing."

"Hm. And I haven't even told you if I brought beer or not."

"It's hard to sneak in a six pack without me hearing it, Walker."

"Hm. And you think I'm the amazing one."

Auggie shrugged off her comment as he got out plates for the food. "Care to read me in while I stuff my face?" he asked.

"Sure," Annie replied.

While Auggie ate, Annie explained with the contents of the folder. "Basically, Henry started a lot of things, and Arthur hasn't finished them."

"That's it?" Auggie asked.

"Pretty much. Of course, it's deeper than that. There are about seven dark missions that Henry initiated, which these documents show Arthur has completely ignored - or doesn't know about. The result is that the agency is running on faulty intelligence on some of the most high-risk areas, or that risky connections have been initiated and not maintained."

Auggie maneuvered to spear a piece of chicken with his fork. "So where does Joan come into all this?"

"From what I can tell, she was pretty heavily involved in one of the darker missions." Annie replied. "Which is what I don't understand. If Joan knew what was going on with these operations, then obviously she knew the dangers of ignoring them. So why wouldn't she push Arthur to keep them going?"

"Maybe she has." Auggie noted. "We have to consider that the people with full, current, security clearances actually know more than the slimey bastard that gave you that file."

"I'm just trying to sort it all out." Annie replied with a hint of aggravation in her voice.

"I hear that. And we will. Where do you suggest we start?"

Annie took a deep breath. "One of the missions in here involves the Baath members on the Terror Deck Cards."

Auggie swallowed the bite in his mouth and took a deep breath. "This is going to sound like I'm evading, but I was involved in more than that one mission, Annie. What are the others?"

"Let me look."

"We can go with the Terror Deck if none of the others are on the list..."

Annie skimmed through the folder until her eyes settled on something. "Operation Spicy Eggplant?"

Auggie's eyes lit up. "Now that's an operation I know something about."

"Did you name it? Or did you beg to get assigned because of that name?"

"Neither. But I was working under General Holloway, who had similar tastes in food."

"Had?"

"He passed away recently."

"So. Eggplant. This was in Istanbul?"

"Yep. Some of it."

"You have never told me about any of your missions, other than Tikrit." Annie said, her voice light.

"You don't have the clearance," Auggie replied. "You probably don't have the clearance to see a lot of what's in that folder. Which makes me even more suspicious as to why the traitor chose you."

"Maybe he wanted somebody that didn't have any bias." Annie suggested.

"Possibly," Auggie replied. "Or he's just an ass, and is trying to ruin your career."

"I'm looking into this, Auggie. Whether you are with me, or not."

Auggie sighed. "Ok. So. The files pertaining to Eggplant - I could plug them into my computer and have the mechanical voice read them to me, or we could sit on the couch and you could read them to me in your super-seductive voice."

Annie laughed at Auggie wiggling his eyebrows. "Oh, that's a tough one. Why do I think that if I read the files we won't get much done tonight?"

"We have all weekend, darling."

Annie was silent for a moment. "I really, really, appreciate you helping me with this, Auggie. I know you don't want to."

Auggie sat back and sighed heavily. "Read it to me, and maybe I'll regale you with a story from my younger days."

Annie read the relevant pages of the file, details of an operation in Turkey regarding an Islamic group that was possibly connected with the Taliban, and the abandoned program to infiltrate the same group through funding their shady operations.

"I still don't know why he needed you for this." Auggie said.

"Hm?"

"From what you are saying, it isn't that Arthur did anything wrong, it's that Arthur simply doesn't know about these other operations. If that's the case, then why doesn't the asshole just tell him that the dirty operations exist, so that they can be cleaned up?"

"I am assuming it is more complicated than that."

"They why didn't the asshole give you more information?"

"I don't know."

"You've read through everything, right?"

"Yeah. But I'm with you. While some of the dirty ops are really dirty, I don't see any reason for Arthur to stay out of the loop on them."

Auggie sighed. His eyes darted around the room a little bit, while he was thinking. "Have you been in touch with the slimey bastard since he gave you this?"

"No."

Auggie took a long drink of beer. For a moment, the two of them sat in silence.

"Auggie?"

"Yes?"

Annie leaned toward him. "You said you would tell me a story from your time in the field."

"I said that I might." Auggie corrected. "I don't see how my missions are relevant."

"They are relevant to me." Annie replied.

"Hm." Auggie teased.

"Please?" Annie took his hand in hers, and gently caressed his wrist.

"Have you ever been to Istanbul?" Auggie asked.

"I know an evasion when I hear one." Annie replied with a stern voice.

"Ok, fine. So, there was this one mission, when I was stationed in Istanbul - I did tell you I was stationed in Instanbul for six months, right?"

"Not really, just that you knew it really well. Also? I know an evasion when I hear one."

"I was sent to Ortaköy, to meet up with an asset."

"Yeah?"

"And I got to stay at this fantastic hotel that overlooked the Bosphorous. The view was incredible. That's the amazing thing about Istanbul - you can sit in Europe, and see Asia. And the Byzantinian architecture is like nowhere else in the world. I'll take you there one day."

Annie smiled at Auggie's description, and in a loving voice said "Evasion."

Auggie laughed out loud. "So, I had this fantastic hotel room."

"Yeah."

"And I sat there for three days, waiting for the asset to make contact."

"Been there, done that."

"And then, on the fourth day, I got a phone call. I packed up my things, and went to the coffee shop on the corner. I sat there for at least another half-hour."

"Yeah?"

"So, the waitress came up to me, and complimented my shirt. She asked me if I bought it at the nearby market. I explained that I brought it from home, and it really wasn't anything special."

"Uh huh," Annie pinched her lips together.

"And then she initiated the hand-off, and I headed back to Istanbul proper."

Annie rolled her eyes. "Auggie"

"Hey, I can't give you classified information!"

Annie playfully hit him in the shoulder, and Auggie steadily grabbed her arm. Before she could fight back, he had her sitting in his lap with her arms pinned. "Should I have told you the part about how I entertained myself in the hotel room for three days?"

Annie gave a sigh of defeat and relaxed in his arms. "It's not fair. You know about all of my missions."

"Life isn't fair." Auggie replied, releasing Annie from his grip.

"Surely I have the clearance to hear at least one good one." She stayed in his lap and ran her fingers behind his ear.

"Maybe I am so good that I don't have exciting stories," Auggie replied. "The best spy is the one the enemy never knew was there."

"Are you saying I'm a bad spy?" Annie asked.

Auggie was trying to come up with the most appropriate answer when his phone rang. Relieved, he went to the kitchen to answer.

"Hello? Oh, hey Pete." Auggie listened to the other end of the line. "I'm going to cancel for tomorrow, but I'll catch up with you sometime next week." Auggie looked a little irritated as the person on the other end of the line spoke. "No man, everything is fine. I'm sort of in the middle of something right now." Auggie rolled his eyes as Pete kept talking. "Ok man. Talk to you later."

As Auggie placed the phone back on the charger, Annie asked "Who's Pete?"

"My Saturday morning running date," Auggie replied with a grin. "I figure I've gotten enough cardio this week, though."

"Running at the gym?" Annie asked.

"No, real running. The treadmill just isn't the same."

"You mean you could have helped me train for my marathon?"

"Hardly," Auggie replied. "You wouldn't be able to last three miles at my speeds." He added with a grin as he opened the fridge and got two beers. Annie felt a little defensive, with this being the second insult in the last minute. Auggie was in a weird mood this evening, so she let it slide.

"So this Pete guy is fast?"

"What's with all the interest, Walker?" He touched her arm - still clothed.

"Just curious," she replied. "I _am_ a spy." She added as she took a beer.

Auggie took a sip. "I'm done with spy games for the night. Come sit with me on the couch."

Annie obliged and followed him to the seat. "If I wouldn't hold you back_ too_ much, I usually run on Saturday mornings, as well."

"Hmmmm. Define 'morning?'"

"You know, those few hours right after you wake up?" Annie replied.

"After breakfast?" Auggie asked.

"Whenever you want, dear." Annie replied, resting her chin on his shoulder.

"Sounds good to me, darling. But next week I do have to go with Pete. If I cancel on him too frequently, he complains to our mother."

Auggie had a smug grin while he listened to Annie's little intake of breath. "I didn't know you had a brother in DC!"

"Nobody does. This is me opening up to you." He said with a cheerful smile.

"Oh, well, tell me more, man of mystery."

"_International_ man of mystery." He corrected.


	7. When Bears Attack

**_A/N: Sorry about the delay on this one. I have been watching some of season two for the first time, and it messed up my headspace. I think I'm back on track now, though I'm sure the holidays will have an effect on my writing time. _**

Annie and Auggie slept late on Saturday, after staying up late on Friday night talking about things they had never shared with each other before. Auggie showed Annie the technique he and his brother had perfected for jogging, and they went on a short run near his apartment to test it out.

Auggie wanted to go through all of Henry's file on his own, in case there was a connection that Annie missed, so she went home after lunch and left him with his technology. She made him promise to come to her house when he was finished. He had come over just after dinner, and they slept peacefully in each others' arms.

Sunday morning, they both woke early. "So what is your Sunday routine?" Annie asked.

"Before or after I get out of the hot blonde's bed I slept in the night before?" Auggie teased.

Annie laughed and was silent for a moment. "On Sunday mornings, I miss Danielle the most. She would make a big breakfast, and I could just hang out with the girls. It always felt so normal."

"Yeah," Auggie replied. "I can see how you miss that. Have you talked to Danielle recently?"

"Briefly, the night we got back from Europe."

"Are things working out for her in California?"

"I think so. She seems happy enough."

"So, in the absence of your sister's culinary skills, are there any good breakfast places nearby?"

"Absolutely," Annie replied.

"Good, because I could go for a big plate of hashbrowns and some runny eggs." Auggie got out of bed and made his way to the bathroom. Annie noticed the less-than confident way he followed the perimeter of the room.

...

Annie poured syrup over her waffle as Auggie cut through his eggs, the yolks running over everything else on his plate. "All kidding aside, and as much as I love your company, I do have a Sunday routine that will be hard for me to give up."

"Oh?" Annie replied. "Is this you opening up to me again?"

"Hardly. You already know I'm a fan of football." Auggie replied.

"What does that have to do with Sunday?" Annie asked.

Auggie rolled his eyes. "It has _everything_ to do with Sunday!"

"Oh. Obviously." Annie replied in a tone that implied that nothing was obvious.

Auggie gave a dramatic sigh.

"What? There is football on Saturday too, right? And Monday! I specifically know there is football on Monday Night."

"I see I do have some training yet to do." Auggie replied. "Sundays, my dear, are when most professional football teams play. More specifically today, the Chicago Bears."

"Okay?"

Auggie grinned. "Game starts at 1:00. I usually watch at a bar in Capitol Hill."

"Day drinking, huh?"

Auggie grinned. "Beer and football - do you not even understand that much of the sport?"

"I'm beginning to think that your sole interest in professional sports is for the chance to drink beer."

"Well, it isn't because of the chance to see men in tight pants."

Annie scoffed. "I know. You are more interested in the cheerleaders."

"You know me so well! So do you want to join me?"

"Absolutely."

...

Sunday night Annie and Auggie each slept at their own homes. While they adored each others' company, they were used to having time to themselves. But by the time Annie met Auggie in the hallway Monday morning, she had to fight not to give him a kiss.

"Good morning, Walker!" Auggie greeted.

"You sure are chipper this morning."

"Hm. Must have been the refreshing weekend I had."

"Mine was pretty refreshing, as well."

Auggie leaned in close. "I had a hard time sleeping last night, though."

"Me too." Annie whispered.

They walked into the DPD together. Eric met them both on the other side of the door. "Just in time, guys. We have a briefing in ten."

"Back to the grind." Auggie commented before he gave Annie a light squeeze and headed to his desk to swap canes.


	8. Gentle Rain

"Auggie?" She called out to him as she walked into the Tech Ops office. "Do you have everything ready?"

Auggie nodded. "Yeah," he responded solemnly. "Here is the bag for you to carry, with the microphone wired in. It should be undetectable in almost any situation. It also works as a GPS tracker, so I can keep you on the map at all times." He gave her a wink. "Are you sure you are ok with this?"

"Auggie, it's a brush pass in Seattle. It looks like the easiest mission I've ever been assigned."

"Yeah, but, you know, you just got back from Holland and..."

"Auggie." Annie put her hand on his shoulder. "Don't do this."

He sighed. "Be careful."

"I'll be home by the end of the week."

...

Annie felt a bit of worry as she got on the plane, leaving her newly established boyfriend to his life in Washington. She was slightly insecure about leaving so soon. It wasn't that she doubted Auggie's faithfulness. She worried that whatever magic that led to them coming together, right now, at this moment, would disappear while she was gone.

What she didn't know is that Auggie felt the same way. He worried that Annie would have time to think about taking this step with him, and would change her mind about being more than friends.

They both pushed these doubts to the back of their minds, reminding themselves of how fabulous the past week had been. They ached for each other before Annie's flight departed from Dulles.

Annie checked in as soon as her flight landed.

"Did you know that I had to walk all of two hundred feet after I got off the plane before I could get a good cup of coffee?" Annie explained.

"Oh the hardships that you endure. Be sure to note that in the debrief."

"If nothing more stressful comes up, I'll do that."

"You know where you are going, right?"

"Every coffee shop within a five block radius of the Crown Plaza Hotel." Annie confirmed.

"You got it."

There was a moment of silence, but neither of them ended the call.

"So, what are you going to do while I'm keeping Starbucks in business?" Annie asked.

" I don't know, Walker. Probably go home and keep reading that book you recommended."

"I can't believe you were able to walk away from that, after you started."

"Oh no, I finished it on Saturday, all in one sitting. But some of the middle chapters were so interesting I'm going back for a re-read. Some of the antagonist's motivations are so complex that I think I missed a few details."

"You'll have to tell me all about it when I get back."

"I will. You take care of yourself, ok?"

"You too. Gotta go." Annie said before she ended the call. She wondered why Auggie would risk discussing Henry's file over the CIA line. He hadn't wanted to talk about it on Saturday, after going through the files on his own. Perhaps he had remembered something relevant to one of his missions.

She put the thoughts to the back of her mind and focused on finding her asset and returning as fast as she could.

...

The asset was determined to drive Annie and Auggie crazy. On her third day in Seattle, Annie started to wonder if she would ever be able to go home. Even though she had already checked in, she called Auggie after only an hour had passed.

"Good to go?" Auggie asked.

"Nope." Annie replied. "How long until we decide it's a lost cause?"

"Technically there haven't been any red flags that would encourage us to abandon the mission, so you have to stay. But I promise that I'm an anxious for you to be back as you are."

"Yeah?" Annie asked. "How much are you missing me, Anderson?"

"More than I'm willing to admit on a CIA-monitored line, Walker."

Annie groaned.

"Hey, at least there is good coffee!" Auggie commented.

"If I have one more 'venti, soy, decaf macciato with an extra half-shot of sugar free vanilla' I'm going to vomit. Could a contact in Seattle be more of a cliché?"

"I didn't even know they made decaf expresso." Auggie replied.

"It is totally pointless." Annie replied. "I'm having to drink a cup of coffee after I order this ridiculous drink to still get my eyes to stay open."

"Well, eventually you'll hit the right barista. I'll buy you a fully-caffeinated latte when you get back."

"You are too generous." Annie teased.

Auggie laughed. "And now, I have to give some time to help Barber. Call soon with good news."

"I hope so."

...

Eventually, Annie was able to make the pass successfully. Auggie received confirmation that she had boarded the long flight back to Dulles and went home to catch up on sleep. He woke to the ring on his phone that he had assigned to Annie.

"Please tell me you are back in the DC Metro area." Auggie answered.

"Even better, I'm in my car, and I got plenty of sleep on the red-eye."

"Hm," Auggie replied. "Have you had your debrief?"

"Joan said it could wait until Monday."

"If you waste time picking up breakfast on your way here, be sure to bring me some."

"Who said I was coming to your place?" Annie asked.

The idea that he would be apart from Annie for any longer hadn't crossed his mind. He had assumed that she missed him as much as he missed her, but a part of him, the part that waited patiently for the just the right time to tell her how he felt, worried that some time away had led her to realize that she only saw him as a friend. He fought to keep from stuttering as he replied "I... I just thought th-that..."

Annie laughed and interrupted him. "I'm pulling up to your building now, but I don't have breakfast with me."

Auggie exhaled in relief as he heard her. "Come on up. You are more important than food."

When Annie got to the door, Auggie met her with a half-eaten banana in hand. "I'm more important than food, huh?"

"Now you are." He replied as he pulled her in for a kiss. Annie melted in his arms.

Later that morning, Annie sat on Auggie's couch with a fresh cup of coffee. "I hate to ruin a perfectly good morning, but what were you talking about with your _reading material_?"

Auggie pouted. She couldn't believe it, he actually pouted. "It was nothing urgent. Can't we just have this morning?"

Annie sighed. "I guess. You've kept me distracted so far."

Auggie smiled and joined her on the couch. "I didn't find anything urgent. Just some missions that I recognized. I researched them a little at work throughout the week, but I still didn't find anything new."

"Were these missions of yours?"

"No. Some of them are missions that are still in action. I handle more than your ops, Dear."

"If they are active missions, and they are running on faulty intel, doesn't that make the information urgent?"

"Not from what I could tell. I had plenty of time while you filling up on faux-caffeine to make sure that everybody is safe - and they are. So if you grant me a weekend of avoidance, I'll read you in tomorrow night. After football, of course." Auggie said with a wink.

"It's a deal. What do you want to do with our blissfully ignorant time?"

"Do you still have that convertible?" Auggie asked.

"Mmmmm... What if I said 'No?'"

"I would probably become physically ill."

Annie smiled. "Good thing it's currently parked in Danielle's garage."

"I know that when you get back from these ops you like to take a long hot bath, but how about we take the 'vette into the mountains and you take your long hot bath in a cabin somewhere secluded?"

Annie smiled. "It will be hard to be back in time for football tomorrow."

"That's ok. You are more important than football."

"Wow." Annie replied.

"And," he said with a slow drawl, "I can listen to the game anywhere. It's the visual part that requires the bar."

Annie giggled. "Now it all makes sense."

"Let me grab a couple of things, and we can head to your place."

A half-hour later they pulled up to Annie's house. "Let's go inside and grab a few things, then we can get on the road." Rather than him holding the back of her elbow, Auggie and Annie wrapped their arms tightly together.

When Annie opened the door to the guest house she shrieked and jumped into Auggie. Instead of reacting, Auggie just held Annie close as he practically growled. "Again?"

The voice of Henry Wilcox responded with a deep laugh.


	9. Heavy winds

**_Thank you for all of the reviews. They keep me inspired to write more - as do other stories, so I do hope that if you are reading and you aren't reviewing, you are writing your own story!_**

**_I hope to wrap this up in a few chapters. _**

* * *

"What do you mean, 'Again?'" Annie asked to Auggie as her heart stopped racing.

"He means that I came to him a week ago for a little chat." Henry answered.

"And you didn't tell me?" Annie continued to direct herself at Auggie.

"He didn't say anything important." Auggie explained. Even though Annie stepped away, he held tight to her arm.

"In fact, if I wanted him to know important things, I would have given him the folder initially. I didn't realize I was enlisting a team effort."

"Why are you here?" Annie asked.

"I'm here to have a chat with you. I had hoped to catch you alone, but ever since I gave you that folder you have been on the job, or with Loverboy here. This isn't what I had in mind."

"Well it's what you got." Annie replied.

Henry gave a grunt. "Have you had a chance to read through everything?"

"Yes."

"Then you know that I left a few loose ends when upon my retirement."

"It appears that way. But if it were as simple as that, you would have given this file directly to Arthur."

"I did. Two years ago."

"Then what is going on?"

Henry sighed. "I told you this wasn't just about Arthur."

"There was nothing in the files about Joan." Annie replied.

"There wasn't anything in there about your loverboy, either. But he's involved."

Annie looked at Auggie who had been uncharacteristically silent during this exchange. Every muscle in his body was still, as though he was a statue standing in her living room with eyes straight ahead and hands tightly wrapped around his cane. "As are hundreds of other operatives," Auggie said.

"But not Annie." Henry replied.

"Can you please get to the point?" Annie interjected.

"The point is that if Arthur tried to 'clean up' the things I started, because of the new operations that he has started, he would have to compromise new missions, endanger assets, or ruin the career of operatives that he values, such as his wife and Agent Anderson."

"So what do you have in mind?"

"I want you to end them behind Arthur's back."

"No." Auggie said, loud and definitively.

"Stand down, August." Henry replied, just as firmly. "Annie has proved that she can handle delicate situations with poise and discretion. I trust that she can end these dark ops efficiently."

"You are talking about seven, or more, off-book missions." Annie stated.

"I'm not telling you to do them all at once. Something like this will take years. But you will have the opportunity to clean some of them up, and I promise that along the way it will be worthwhile."

"Don't you have other minions to do your dirty work?" Auggie asked.

"I do." Henry replied. "And they will be around to help along the way."

"I'm in." Annie replied in the same cool tone she had given him at the Vesta.

"Annie," Auggie pleaded.

"Auggie, I have the chance to keep operatives out of danger. I can't turn that down, and neither can you."

Auggie sighed. He wasn't at all comfortable with it, but he agreed.

"Now. Since you have read-in your handler, he can help us with some of this." Henry stated.

"I never agreed to help." Auggie sneered.

"You don't have to. She agreed to it, and you won't abandon her."

Henry was right, and anger flared in Auggie as he realized that this man could see his true feelings so clearly. "I will do what I have to for Annie to be safe. That's all I promise."

"Then here's a list of locations where she can do her magic, and a number where I can be reached. All I need is for somebody to notify me when she's headed to one of these destinations, and we can go from there."

Annie took the single sheet of paper, folded it without looking, and tucked it into Auggie's back pocket.

Henry stood up and walked toward the door, walking directly between Annie and Auggie. Auggie felt that Henry was near, and reached for his shoulder.

"Henry," Auggie said with a voice far softer than the expression he held when in the man's presence. Henry looked toward him, but before he could say anything Auggie landed a light punch on the side of his face. "I still don't like you."

Henry stepped through the door and out of Auggie's immediate reach. "You don't have to, August. As long as you like her, you are on my team."

Henry walked off and Annie shut the door before Auggie could try to chase him down for another punch.

"Do you think it will leave a bruise?" Auggie asked.

"I think you drew blood." Annie replied

Auggie smiled broadly.

"And I think you were rather kind." She said as she reached around his neck and pulled him in for a kiss.

"Are we really doing this?" Auggie asked.

"If by 'this,' you mean driving to the mountains, sitting in a hot tub, and drinking wine, then Hells Yes."

Auggie smiled and gave her another quick kiss.

"Then grab your stuff, darling. This place needs the smell of Henry Wilcox to dissipate."

Annie started moving around, gathering things, when a cool metal can touched the back of his hand. He felt for the trigger in the front, and sniffed carefully. "Febreeze?"

"Yep," she replied as she stepped next to him with a small backpack. "I'm ready."

Auggie sprayed into the room, melodramatically holding his nose in the process. Annie laughed. "One last thing," Auggie said, handing Annie the canister before they walked out the door.

"Yeah?"

"Was there an army of giant spiders following him out the door?"

Annie laughed. "Yes. Absolutely."

"I thought so." Auggie replied with a grin.


	10. Clear Skies

They had both been trained well in the art of compartmentalization. Once they were settled in the Corvette, Henry's visit was the furthest thing from their minds. Annie started the engine, and Auggie ran his hands over the interior of the car. As she pulled out of the driveway, he appeared to be lost in thought.

Annie cranked up the heat, as it was a little bit too cold to be riding with the top down, but to drive this car with the top up would be a shame. Auggie's hands wandered until his left hand landed on Annie's thigh. "There is one horrible design flaw in this car that I didn't consider."

"What's that?" Annie asked.

"Bucket seats."

Annie laughed and accelerated to pass a line of vehicles. "Probably best that the driver not be too distracted, when they have so much power in their control."

Auggie pulled his hand back and went back to exploring the glove box. "You know, I've never been in the passenger seat."

"Ever?"

"Nope. You are the first person I've ever let drive it."

Annie stole a glance at him, his eyes straight ahead and hair blowing in the wind. "It's a trust that I don't take lightly."

"It's better in your hands than mine." Auggie replied.

"Where are we going?" Annie asked.

"I really don't know." Auggie replied. "Let me figure something out."

He pulled out his phone and called a number. "Hey Lisa. I need you to help me out with something. Yeah, so I have somebody headed west out of the DC Metro, and I'm looking for the first location that is well hidden - preferably in the mountains - where we can arrange a private room with a large tub." Auggie was silent a moment. "No, I don't need the Company to make a reservation. Just identify somewhere with vacancy and send the information to this number. That sounds perfect. Thank you."

Annie glanced at Auggie when he hung up. "Using Agency resources for personal matters?"

"She knew that call was personal as soon as it came on her unencrypted line. She's texting me information on some cabins at a vineyard just north of here."

...

They ended up in a private cabin on the side of a mountain. It was small, but perfect.

"Did Lisa do ok?" Auggie asked as Annie took in the view.

"Oh Auggie, this is amazing."

He walked over to her. "Tell me about it."

Annie opened a sliding glass door and led him out onto a deck. They took a few steps to the right and she put his hand onto a large solid object. "We have a hot tub." She described. "And there's about a hundred feet of dense woods around us, but since there are no leaves on the trees, I can see the vineyards on the other side. There are acres and acres of perfect lines of grape plants, and beyond those there are mountains."

He held tight to her, looking into the distance. "Well, let's enjoy the view."

Annie led him into the cabin. "I don't know what Lisa told them, but there is some food and wine here." He heard her opening a drawer and felt something metal press against his hand. "I'll go hunt us some towels if you pour the wine?"

"That works for me."

Annie came back with towels. "Okay, ready to get in the hot tub?"

"Yep."

Annie reached for a glass of wine, led him out to the tub, and removed the cover. The water was nice and hot. They pulled off their clothes and quickly got in.

They sat close, their skin touching. Annie leaned over to kiss Auggie's bare shoulder. Auggie felt for a place to sit his wine, and turned to kiss her properly. She returned the embrace. Rather to leading to anything more, they relaxed in each other's arms in the warm water.

Later, Annie sat with Auggie in front of a fire. He ran his fingers up and down her arm, occasionally running his fingers through her hair. "This is perfect, Auggie."

"Mmmm." He replied and kissed the top of her head. "I think so, as well. We should do this after all of your missions."

Annie laughed. "I wish." Then she had a thought. "Auggie?"

"Yes?"

"You blew off your brother again. I don't want you to get in trouble with your mom."

"Nah. I caught up with Pete while you were gone. We went for an early morning run on Thursday."

"He really keeps tabs on you that closely?"

"Nope." Auggie said with a definitive tone. "He travels a lot for work, and was actually in town the past couple of weeks. He'll be gone for the next little while. Works at the State Department."

"That's handy." Annie replied.

"More than you know." Auggie replied with a tease in his voice. "Pete's the only relative of mine that's read-in on where I work."

"The one that got the X-box?"

Auggie laughed. "Yeah. He's not so easy to bribe now."

They sat in silence for a moment, the only communication being the slight movements of their skin against each other. Auggie's hand on Annie's arm, Annie's toes wiggling against Auggie's leg, and the subtle movement of Auggie's chest with each breath. Annie closed her eyes to imagine the moment from Auggie's perspective. It was peaceful.

...

Sunday morning, Annie found Auggie sitting on the porch with a cup of coffee.

"Enjoying the view?" Annie asked.

Auggie grinned. "There's a lot to take in out here."

"Tell me about it?" Annie asked as she walked over and pulled a chair next to him. She reached for his empty hand.

"Is there fog burning off?"

"Yeah."

"There were just some squirrels chasing each other in the tree over there." Auggie pointed to his left. "It was intense. Lots of scurrying."

"Scurrying, huh?" Subconsciously Auggie was rubbing his thumb over the back of her hand.

"Being out in the mountains like this is considered to be more quiet than the city, but there are so many noises. From the cricket in the cabin last night, to the birds calling in the trees this morning, the rustling of the leaves, and all the critters scurrying. I would say there are more than twice as many sounds here than in my apartment in DC." He lifted Annie's hand to his mouth for a kiss. "Yet it is so much more peaceful."

"Not to mention that we've gone almost 24 hours without our cell phones ringing." Annie added.

"Oh, I took the batteries out last night." Auggie explained.

"But what if..."

"Shhhh." Auggie interrupted. "If she really needed to, Joan could find us."

Annie considered this for a moment.

"Being off the grid shouldn't be that discomforting anymore, dear." Auggie suggested.

Annie laughed. "I was trying not to make it a habit."

"Wouldn't have guessed that, with the deal you made yesterday." Auggie stated with a somber tone.

Annie sighed and squeezed his hand. "I'm sorry you're so deeply involved in this."

"I sort of jumped in, remember?"

"More like I jumped in, you threw a line, and I used it to pull you down, as well."

"Extravagant metaphors aside, there are a lot of rogue missions on your plate. It would be a miracle to pull off one without Joan knowing, much less seven."

"You've helped me accomplish miracles, before."

Auggie sighed. "And I will, again."

"Thank you." Annie replied.

Auggie kept Annie's hand in his as he stood up, pulling her out of her chair. "I'll plug you back in, if you drive us to breakfast?"

"Sounds like a deal to me." Annie replied.

...

When they arrived back in DC, Annie drove straight to Auggie's apartment.

"Stay with me tonight." Auggie stated.

"Okay," Annie replied.

Once in his place, Auggie wrapped his arms around Annie, his fingers in her hair. "Are you one hundred percent certain you want to do this for Henry?"

"We don't have the luxury of waiting until we are 100% certain of anything." Annie replied.

Auggie placed his forehead against hers. "Then I promise to be with you, every step of the way."

**_The End. _**

**_A/N: Sorry to end it here, but I never wanted to write a story about many little missions, just about their relationship. It didn't turn out as rocky as I planned, either. Thank you for being along for the ride! _**

**_Now that it is complete, please leave a review to let me know what you think. I may have some follow-up one-shots, but I'm focused a little more on another story. As always, I look forward to everybody else's stories, as well. If you aren't reviewing, I hope you are writing. _**


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